NCERT Solutions Geography Class 12 Chapter 4 Human Development

HowToDunia.com offers you best answers for Geography Class 12 NCERT Solutions Chapter 4 Human Development. This chapter designed by expert’s subject teachers to prepare students to score well. Here you find question wise complete detailed chapter questions and answers.


Q1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.


(i) Which one of the following best describes development?

(a) an increase in size Geography
(b) a constant in size
(c) a positive change in quality
(d) a simple change in the quality

Answer:- (c) a positive change in quality


(ii) Which one of the following scholars introduced the concept of Human Development?

(a) Prof. Amartya Sen
(c) Dr Mahabub-ul-Haq
(b) Ellen C. Semple
(d) Ratzel

Answer:- (c) Dr Mahabub-ul-Haq


(iii) Which one of the following is not a country with high human development?

(a) Norway
(c) Argentina
(b) Japan
(d) Egypt

Answer:- (d) Egypt


Q2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.


(i) What are the three basic areas of human development?

Answer:- There are three basic areas of human development like
Access to resources: It is taken as an indicator of economic condition and ability of individuals to purchase goods of their demands.
Health: Longevity of people of the country indicates the availability of health care services and facilities in the country.
Education: The adult literacy rate and gross enrollment ratio represents access to knowledge.


(ii) Name the four main components of human development?

Answer:- The four main components of human development are:
(a) Equity: It means equal opportunities should be made available to everyone
(b) Sustainability: It is continuity in the availablity of opportunity
(c) Productivity: It is human labour productivity in terms of human works.
(d) Empowerment: It means poweer to make choices.


(iii) How are countries classified on the basis of human development index?

Answer:-Countries are classified into three groups on the basis of human development index:

Countries with High Index value: Countries who have a score of above 0.8 in HDI. This group includes 57 countries.

Countries with Medium Index value: Countries who have a score between 0.5 upto 0.799 in HDI. This group includes 88 countries.

Countries with Low Index value: Countries who have a score of below 0.5 in HDI. This group includes 32 countries.


Q3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.


(i) What do you understand by the term human development?

Answer:- Dr. Mahbub-ul-Haq introduced the concept of human development. He described human development as a development that enlarges people’s choices and improves their lives. People are central to all development under this concept. These choices are not fixed but keep on changing. The basic goal of human development is to create conditions where people can live meaningful lives.
A meaningful life is not just a long one. It must be a life with some purpose. This means that people must be healthy, be able to develop their talents, participate in society and be free to achieve their goals.
Human Development: Development is a dynamic concept. It is a process of growth and realisation of potential utilizing resources into full use. Its main purpose is to raise the economic growth. Geography generally uses the terms developed and developing countries.


(ii) What do equity and sustainability refer to within the concept of human development?

Answer:-Equity means equal access to opportunities available to every body. The opportunities available to people must be equal irrespective of their gender, race, income and in the Indian case, caste. The basic idea is to ensure equitable distribution of opportunity to every individual, so they can exercise their choice without any hindrance. Sustainability means continuity in the availability of opportunities. Each generation must have the same opportunities. All resources must be used for the welfare of future generations.


Extra Questions Very Short Answer Type


Q1. Who created Human Development index ?

Answer:- A Pakistani economist Dr. Mahabub-ul-Haq in 1990.


Q2. What are two requirements for empowerment ?

Answer:- Good governance and people oriented policies.


Q3. Which country introduced Gross National Happiness ?

Answer:- Bhutan.


Q4. Define human development.

Answer:- Human development is the development that enlarges people’s choice and improves their lives so that they can lead a healthy, meaningful, purposeful life with dignity.


Extra Questions Short Answer Type


Q1. Describe the concept of Human development as described by Dr. Haq.

Answer:- Dr. Haq described that Human development enlarges peopl’s choices and improves their lives. People are central to all development. The choices keep on changing. It is to create conditions where people can live meaningful lives. People must be healthy, be able to develop their talents, and be free to achieve their goals.


Q2. Distinguish between growth and development.

Answer:- Growth and development refers to changes that take place over a period of the growth; quantitative and value neutral. It is positive or negative. It shows increase or decrease.
Development means a qualitative change. It always has a positive value. Development means increase in the existing conditions. Development occurs when positive growth takes place.


Q3. What is Gross National Happiness ? What are its important aspects?

Answer:- Bhutan is the only country in the world to proclaim GNH as the measure of human development. It means material progress cannot come at the cost of happiness. GNH encourages us to think of the spiritual, non-material and qualitative aspects of the development.


Describe the following question


Q1. With examples show how the government expenditure on social sector is an indicator of human development in different area?

Answer:- The pattern of government expenditure on social sector is an important indicator of the level of human development in a particular region. The political environment of the country and the amount of freedom people have is also important. Countries with high levels of human development invest more in the social sectors and are generally free from political turmoil and instability. Distribution of the country’s resources is also far more equitable.

On the other hand, places with low levels of human development tend to spend more on defense rather than social sectors. This shows that these countries tend to be located in areas of political instability and have not been able to initiate accelerated economic development.


Answer:- The size of the territory and per capita income are not directly related to human development: Often smaller countries have done better than larger ones in human development. Similarly, relatively poorer nations have been ranked higher than richer neighbours in terms of human development.
For example Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago have a higher rank than India in the human development index despite having smaller economies. Similarly, within India, Kerala performs much better than Punjab and Gujarat in human development despite having lower per capita income.


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